“Our Congratulations!” – The 30th Anniversary of the GDR

“Our Congratulations!” – 1979

This poster comes out of the old Soviet Eastern Bloc state of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from the Cold War. It was released in 1979 by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) as it prepared for the celebration of its thirtieth anniversary of statehood. The Socialist Unity Party in the GDR released a series of at least 19 propaganda posters honoring the thirtieth anniversary. Featured in this particular poster are three young, smiling children. They are pictured holding a banner that has the number “30” on it, created by a formation of colorful flowers. There are two boys and one girl pictured, each wearing a slightly different outfit, and the middle child is propping up the national emblem of the GDR.

The East German public was the target of this propaganda campaign, in order to get people excited about the anniversary. Historian Randall Bytwerk asserts that “Anniversaries were big events in the German Democratic Republic. The points (the thirtieth anniversary posters) make are a good summary of the GDR’s general propaganda line: a youthful, peace-loving, hard-working state that was strongly supported by its citizens.” (Bytwerk, German Propaganda Archive). The cheery smiles of the three children, coupled by the middle child’s admiration of the GDR National Emblem, absolutely backs up this assertion.

The national emblem is a powerful symbol of East German identity throughout the Cold War. The emblem features a yellow compass and hammer against a red background, surrounded by a wreath of rye. At the bottom of the emblem are five German flags featuring the black, red, and yellow stripes. The imagery of the emblem is meant to reinforce the notion that the GDR is a state of workers and farmers in the long tradition of Soviet communism as a sort of satellite state (Schurdel, 84). The appeal of children backing up this state and giving their congratulations to its 30 years of statehood would have been wide-reaching, as children evoke such positive feelings and ideas in people’s minds. Because of the appeal using children, this piece would not only have been posted in typical areas such as government buildings and store fronts, but also in schools as an effort to put it in front of children and their parents.

The children are dressed with clothing that follows the gender norms of the time. There is, however, one feature of the children’s clothing that may have a deeper meaning: their neckerchiefs. Each child is wearing one, however, the boy in the center and the girl to his right were both drawn with red neckerchiefs. This could be seen as a connection back to the past Soviet youth groups whose uniforms included the red neckerchief such as the Komsomol (All-Union Leninist Young Communist League) and the Pioneers that taught communist principles and brought to youth together under the Communist Party. The SED’s use of this imagery also reinforced the Soviet-based traditions that their satellite states – including GDR – were honoring.

The propagandist from the SED who created this particular piece effectively weaved clear Soviet symbols into a bright, cheery image of children who are proud to be East Germans. This piece of propaganda furthered communism as it functioned as an essential part of East Germans’ lives. Not only did it celebrate the national identity of these people in the aftermath of World War II and in the wake of the Cold War, it lifted up positive sentiments of the larger Soviet control over East Germany.